New Species of tick discovered...up someone's nose!

Mickeroo

Thought this was an interesting one, equally disgusting as it is kind of funny:

It was about three days after I'd left Africa that the pain in my nose became too severe to ignore. Starting as a dull ache niggling at the edge of my consciousness, it had gradually built in intensity to the point at which I had to stop what I was doing to investigate further.

I'd been unpacking items from an expedition to western Uganda, where I'd been observing chimpanzees: I'm a patho-biologist and research infectious diseases in nature. It was partly deep revulsion that had led to my ignoring the symptoms at first. I had a pretty good idea what I was going to find, because I'd experienced a similar sensation before.

Using an angled mirror and moving my body awkwardly, I was able to peer up my nose with the help of a torch. There it was, half a pinkie's length up, right where the cartilage meets the bone: the smooth, rounded backside of a fully engorged tick.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/dec/07/experience-new-species-up-my-nose?CMP=fb_gu

Hollzy

Oh my. The thought of having to pull a tick out of my nose makes me ill! Great story though.

Adam Khor

Better than a leech, I guess. I remember reading about leeches that specialize on noses...

Mickeroo

Adam Khor wrote: »

Better than a leech, I guess. I remember reading about leeches that specialize on noses...

Don't the common leeches often make their way into the noses of Ducks?

_Redzer_

*crosses Uganda off holiday destination list*

Adam Khor

Mickeroo wrote: »

Don't the common leeches often make their way into the noses of Ducks?

I didn´t know that. What I had in mind was (I think) a Himalayan species you can accidentally drink and then crawls up your nose and gets stuck in there.